Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Spanish police arrests Turkish refugee – Binali Yildrim faces torture

At the 29th of May Spanish police forces at an Interpol order captured the Turkish refugee Binali Yildrim on the island Mallorca. Binali Yildrim was on a vacation with his soccer team. The 34 years old Yildrim, who currently legally lives in Hamburg Germany, is still wanted by the Turkish authorities. Binali Yildrim was held in Turkish isolation prison in Edirne under heavy torture.Binali Yildrim was first captured by Turkish authorities in 1995 and was sentenced to “lifelong hard imprisonment”. Pretence for the severe sentence was his assumed contribution to different battles with the Turkish army, as a member of the communist TIKKO-Guerrilla.With the introduction of the so called „F-Type“ isolation prisons in 2001 in Turkey, Binali Yildrim was involved in the hunger strike of 500 political prisoners. Isolation in prison is called “white torture”, because it leads to social deprivation without leaving physical scars.After 78 days of hunger strike, his imprisonment was set out for six month; this is a normal procedure to let people who have participated in a hunger strike die at home. Binali Yildrim managed to flee to Germany. For four years now, Yildrim lives in Hamburg first with a legal status as an asylum seeker, and then with a temporary resident permit. Yildrim is married and has two children, he owns a small shop and is working in a factory.The Spanish authorities, who signed the Geneva Refugee Conventions, had Binali Yildrim arrested in spite of his legal status in Germany. Binali Yildrim, who is represented by a lawyer in Spain right now, is facing his deportation to Turkey and new torture.